Eval Q1

My A2 film trailer challenges, uses and also develops forms and conventions of media products. Personally I’d say in general, I tried to break and challenge classic media text conventions. All of the trailers in my media class are really impressive, it is noticeable the amount of work that has gone into them. But I tried to make mine more psychologically challenging for my audience and I had said that from the start. The first thing I did was cutting out the audio, in my trailer there is no speech at all, bar the whispering in the end credits. And this is because I wanted to create a certain mystery, and tension behind my trailer. Revealing very little about the plot. I was very careful with the audio I chose, and I mix it up throughout the trailer. The first half of the trailer is daunting, tense music that sets the scene, building tension from the get go. Then in the second half I found some non copyrighted music on youtube, that had quite a trippy, unnerving sound to it. I did this because I liked the way it made my trailer flow. My film is about being stalked and the descent into total paranoia and insanity, and I believe that my trailer represents this as in the second half when I start speeding up the footage with different flashes combined with the trippy music it creates a psychologically challenging atmosphere for the viewer. It’s unlike any other horror film trailer I’ve seen, where they reveal characters, the plot itself and has quite a lot of speech. It’s the same with the other trailers in my class. And I find when making a trailer or short film with little to no budget, it’s easy for it to look cringey. I didn’t want that, I wanted to create a trailer that generally unnerved my audience and would be taken seriously. And I believe I have done that. I paid very close attention to camera angles for they really set the scene, more so than anything else. My favourite shot is in the opening 30 seconds were Luke (my actor) is sitting on a bridge looking out. The camera is situated to the left and a little lower than him, showing him looking out onto the setting son showing the day ending. It was really effective for it gave this impression of emptiness and loneliness, and it was filmed early in the day when it was sunny, so when I put it into final cut pro I played around with numerous filters until i found the right light. Creating a trailer with no budget isn’t easy, you have to be creative. And the thing with making a psychological horror is you cannot rely on cheap jump scares, gore and blood, you really have to play with the audience's imagination, and also your own. I wanted to do a scene where you see a hanging body, and I couldn’t work out how to do it. I realized it would be to hard to get a full body shot, so I just tried to film the legs. I covered my legs in mud, and hung from the rafters in my loft by my arms and got my friend Callum to film my swinging legs. Initially the footage looked poor, it didn’t look realistic. I was swinging too fast but also it was to bright. Final Cut Pro was great for manipulating images, far more effective to use than photoshop and also easier. I added a few filters over it, like an old recording frame and also different filters to make it look more grainy and dark. Then combine that with the distorted audio and you have a really great piece of footage. The last scene before the film title wasn’t even planned. We were sitting in the sixth form room and I was playing around with the camera and filmed Luke, he didn’t know I was filming until he turned and looked at the camera, so when I was editing I had to cut the last two seconds out. That scene seems genuine, it’s at the end of the trailer and the vacant expression on his face helps with the flow of the trailer. One of my biggest inspirations when making my trailer was a youtuber called cinemassacre. James Rolfe is an American amateur film-maker who I’d actually been a fan of for a while, right back since 2006 when he first started his account. He is known for his angry game reviews but is also a huge horror film buff and has created numerous projects with little no no-budgets. I took a lot of inspiration and got many ideas from him, even his name itself, “cinemassacre” meaning cinema massacre, breaking the codes and conventions of how a film should be made because of a lack of facilities and money to create a film. Looking at his work he uses mostly practical effects but still manages to produce a great film. Here is a link to a video called

eval q4

Comparing A2 to AS, this year in A2 I used far more sophisticated and advanced software and also hardware. Firstly the camera I used, the Panasonic Fz330. It was a good camera, good quality, great zoom and also built in effects. For example when we were filming in the woods during the day, I dimmed the brightness and put a filter over it that made it look like the sun was setting. Add that to the filters on the software and you’ve totally manipulated the footage. It took me a while to work out how to use the camera for it was quite a sophisticated piece of equipment. Compared to last year were i took the photos with my phone, the quality was so much better. I also tried to mix up various different software. Last year to manipulate and edit photo's I used the free online tool that is Pixlr. It was simple, easy to use and I was happy with the look of my photo's however they could have been far better. With Pixlr you are limited to what you can do, where as with something else like photoshop you can create anything out everything. It's infamous for altering photos for good and for bad. I took a photo of my friend Callum with a reversed KISS mask on, it looked pretty stupid at first but when I put it into photoshop and changed the contrast, brightness, hue and other elements it ended up looking very scary and professional. Using final cut pro made a big difference swell now instead of having to use just still images like we did with the magazine, now we were using real rolling footage so if was a big difference using different editing software. At first I found it quite challenging to use but after I started using it more and more and started to get the hang of it, it now seems simple. Like photoshop it was great for editing and manipulating scenes to give a different vibe or affect, like many of the shots were taken in the morning sunlight, very bright, but when I put some filters over it and changed the brightness it really changed the effect and mood of the trailer.

eval q3

3) What have I learnt from audience feedback? One of the most important factors in creating a good trailer is taking advice and constructive criticism from your peers. Not only did I receive feedback from the people in my class, but the rest of the school’s year 13 sixth form and also friends outside of school. Every other week, in class we would show each other how our trailers were coming along and we would give each other feedback of what was good and how to improve. It was really helpful for you got the positives and the negatives. One thing that people always commented on was the audio, the original music I had was a old toy music box, sort of like a jack in the box wind up. My peers said it did not fit the genre of the fim, and looking back in hindsight, it didn’t. Also I felt as if I was restricted to that one song, when I changed it I found many more different pieces of audio that i liked and it sounded a lot better, and looking at the trailer now the audio is one of the key parts, it helps shape it and set the mood. One of the most important things about getting feedback from your audience is that it keeps you on your toes, it makes you strive for something better. You don’t settle for second best, every time someone makes a bit of criticism, sometimes taking it personally can be a good thing because you put that extra effort in. I’ve mentioned before, the trailer itself is supposed to be psychologically challenging, it appeals to a smaller group of people, a niche audience. So I was getting feedback on things like the quick change in audio, scenes moving too fast and too slow or the lack of speech itself. And this is what I was trying to do, so if my film is going to appeal to a niche audience I’m going to receive a lot of feedback on what to alter and what to change.

CASSETTE I (Final Trailer)

Hammer Film Production Company

In order to create a successful film, it's important to look at other production company's and what they did for the horror industry. I wanted to research a lesser known company like Hammer instead of someone like Universal or WB, plus Hammer is primarily horror / thriller. I remember watching old Hammer films from the 60's when I was younger and it looked so tame when I seen them, but to put it into context, an audience at the time would have been very shocked.

Founded in November 1934 England. It actually started off making comedies and crime films like 'The Public Life of Henry the Ninth" 1936 and "The Bank Messenger Mystery" 1937. But a crash in the British film industry in 1938 forced Hammer into bankruptcy. Luckily it was bought out at the last minute and started to produce films made by other companies. A few years later after WW2 hammer began to make cheap films to fill gaps in cinema schedules and support big feature films. So after years of creating small crime thrillers and comedies Hammer opened their door to the horror genre, 'Hammer House of Horror films' started in 1955. They took advantage of the Sci-fi situation in the US. America is where all of the huge films were made, and still is today, and during the 50's it was rife with sic-fi films such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still". The horror golden age was 20 years earlier in the 30s. But Hammer seen a gap in the market for horror films and jumped on it. Their first feature horror film was "The Curse of Frankenstein" featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who at the time were big stars of the screen. They re-made other 30's classics like 'Dracula' and 'The Mummy'. But this time was different, better picture, sound, colour and also blood. These Hammer films were in colour, something that was rare at the time, also no one had really seen blood in a horror film at this point. Hammer changed that, instead it was full of blood, and it was bright red so it stood out. The cameraman let you know it was there for they lingered on it for longer than usual. This was breakthrough stuff at the time, people couldn't believe it, they had never seen anything like this before. Even the Americans loved it, Hammer films were huge in the States.

But during the late 60's with the rise of directors like Roman Polanski and films such as 'Night of the Living Dead' by George A. Romero, Hammer was struggling to compete. There films of the 50's were already looking outdated and the gore and graphics from the US was far more superior. They tried getting in new directors and writers but it didn't work. Despite going bankrupt in the 80's and being bought out and failing multiple times, in 2007 Dutch media tycoon John De Mol bought them out and they began producing films again. Perhaps the most well known was 'The Woman in Black' from 2012.

The reason I wanted to talk about Hammer was because they were a small company that dominated the US for a brief period with their breakthrough. Also they produced truly great horror classics, and despite the blood being a big feature of Hammer, they relied on a strong narrative, good acting and suspense to keep the audience engaged.

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This is a scene from the classic 'Dracula' where Dracula dies, watch after 2:40 when you see the special effects of the day and why Hammer was so famous.

Using Final Cut Pro

To create my media trailer, I have been using a piece of software on the schools apple Macs called 'Final Cut Pro'. There is other move making software out there like Sony Vegas and Windows Movie Maker but I believe the best is Final Cut Pro, and I also have free access to it. Last year in A1 we weren't making motion picture texts just still magazines so this year was a big step up for I'd never done anything like this before. I did used to have a youtube channel which I regularly posted on a few years ago but not to the level we are at in A2. At first I found it quite hard to pick up, like photoshop its all about trial and error for the first few attempts, until you get used to it. The thing that makes it so good is that you can manipulate everything, images, the footage and the one big thing I thought was great, the sound. One of the pieces of audio we have is an old music box, so I put two audio effects over it called 'Telephone' and 'Short Delay' which makes it sound even more creepier than it already was. One of the tools that really helped me out at times was the stabilise tool, often without the tripod we couldn't get a steady shot depending on the angle. And what was good footage was ruined by shaky camera work, until i found out how to stabilise. This is a feature that stops the shaking, but at times it can blur the footage and make it look worse so I tend not to rely on it too much.

But I learnt many skills last year that were transferable to this year like how to manipulate photo's to get a different vibe from it. For example look at the pictures above.

The top one has no filter, and the bottom one has the 'cool tone' filter. This is what I mean, the first shot didn't look that creepy, whereas when I put the filter over it' looked much better. This also allows me to film at different times of day, sometimes. I could be in a sunny room at 11 o'clock in the morning but i could turn it into midnight on FCP. I kind of did the same with my poster, the main image for that I edited in Pixlr which I used to alter my photo's last year.

Poster Inspiration

For my auxiliary poster I researched other horror film posters, teasers and theatrical and took influence and inspiration from them and others in order to create mine. Despite not being finished as of now all I need to do is put on my new main image. The main poster I focused on when creating my poster was this one, 'One Missed Call' originally a Japanese film from 2003 with an American re-make in 2008. If you research horror posters, many of them look the same, or have the same general layout as the one pictured above. And when you compare this one to mine you can see the similarities, the credit block, main image, title and tag line.

The tagline 'WHAT WILL IT SOUND LIKE WHEN YOU DIE?' is suspenseful, it leaves you thinking what it means, and with my poster 'THE NIGHT IT CAME HOME' does the same thing, makes you question what it is and what it will do, enticing the audience. Also the main image I really liked, notice how around the hand and the face it seems to blend into the darkness as if it is coming out of the dark, hiding in the unknown. That's the image I tried to create with my poster, and it matches with the film. The 'antagonist' whatever it is, is never fully seen, it's always lurking in the shadows. It's a very unsettling poster. The round face, dark, dull wide smile and also by using two mouths as eyes creates a certain eeriness and makes you feel uncomfortable even just when looking at it. There are many other posts I took inspiration from such as 'Scream 4' and 'Mirrors'. But this one especially for it really does make me feel uncomfortable just looking at it. What makes it so good is how scary it is with no blood, gore or guts, just playing with your imagination and using simple techniques to scare the audience.

Audience Theory

Three Main Theory's:

• The Effects Model or Hypodermic 
• Uses & Gratification
• Reception

Uses & Gratification (Blumer & Katz:

We are not a totally passive audience, we control what we do and what we watch. This theory argues that when we do watch a violent film, we are not necessarily influenced by the violence. For example take a media text, a horror, by seeing the actions and consequences of what unfolds in the text, it will prevent us from doing so for we know what would happen.
The audience has the power to watch what we want, and don't watch parts we don't want to watch. Diversion, escapism, information, pleasure etc.

The Reception theory (Stuart Hall 1970):

- Texts are encoded by producers, the audience or viewer then decode the message. Hall came up with his own theory, the Reception theory, though it was not necessarily his 'own' so to speak, it had been around for years, though he did re-define it for the modern age. Hall said audience members adopt one of the three following

+ Dominant, or Preferred, Reading - How the producer wants the audience to interpret the media text.

+ Oppositional Reading - When the audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own meaning for the text.

+ Negotiated Reading - A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producers views, but has their own views on parts also.

Effects Model:

The Effects Model is a theory many will know, but not know the actual name for it. This is basically when a viewer, especially a young viewer would take inspiration from a film or media text they have seen and perhaps re-enact it. The effects aren't always seen as negative, but most of the time they are. The power lies within the message of the text. The most famous case perhaps is the murder of James Bulger in 1993. The two boys who murdered him said they were inspired by video games they had been playing and also the slasher film 'Childs Play 3'. People have debated this theory for years, but its clear that media texts have a lot of inspiration and influence over viewers, especially younger viewers. Films like this are often banned, for example take the cult classic 'A Clockwork Orange', the 70's hit was based in an alternate Britain rife with crime. The film itself was technically beautiful but was full of violence and brutality.

How does audience theory relate to my trailer?
My doesn't necessarily feature much blood and gore, I tend to rely more on tension and suspense It's more psychologically challenging. Nevertheless it's still a violent horror film with scenes young viewers, and even older viewers will find disturbing that's why it is rated a 15. Clearly stated on the trailer itself, poster and magazine to not allow younger viewers to see it.

(Warning, this trailer is for those over the age of 18)

Filming Log #4

Magazine Draft No. 2

This is the second draft of my magazine, originally I was going to create my own magazine called "PURGED" but after multiple drafts and weeks of trying to find the right style I decided to use an existing magazine, and I've chosen EMPIRE. EMPIRE is an international seller and is one of the biggest magazines in circulation, and arguably the biggest movie based magazine out there. This is only my first draft of my new magazine so there's a lot of work that needs to be done. The hardest part is filling the pages with articles making sure they are in line and in the right place, it needs to look professional as if someone would actually buy the magazine. I am currently awaiting feedback from my teacher, I'm going to keep working on it over the next few days and hopefully I'll get come constructive feedback to improve my magazine. The main thing that is missing at the minute is the main image, like with my poster I had not taken any actual photos for my auxiliary products so I am planning to go out and film tomorrow with Thomas and Luke and we will be getting footage for the trailer but also taking some photos for my poster and magazine, I plan on taking quite a few so I can pick and choose what fits best.

Poster Draft No. 4

Draft 4, nearly finished. Upon receiving feedback from my teacher I made all the alterations I needed to. Firstly, I have changed the credit block, before it seemed like a list and the text was a bit to large, it was also to far into the middle of the page. So I changed the font size, added more to it and set it out better so it stretches to further across the poster. Then I changed the tag line "THE NIGHT IT CAME HOME" it was to small and did not stand out compared to anything else on the poster. The title "CASSETTE I" I also changed, again like the tagline it was too small and along with the main image, the title should be one of the first things that stands out, and it didn't. So I enlarged it after I made more room by altering the credit block. Also along the bottom I noticed that I had a British age rating of 15 but also an American G rating, reading "All Ages Admitted" which I did not notice, so i took it out and kept the British 15 rating. I also fixed the font for WWW.CASSETTEFILM.COM for before it looked like more like an armed forces font. Then I included my company logo, Gladewick Productions. The final thing I must do is find a new main image, I did notice at first the photo was quite creepy but wasn't very clear for it was a screenshot from the trailer itself, and also my teacher pointed that out. Tomorrow we are going out to film some more of our trailer and I am going to take a couple of new shots and decide which one I am going to use on my front cover.

Many of the changes made are minor and you would probably not notice at first glance unless compared to my other three drafts, but nonetheless they are effective. I am hoping to have the final poster finished and on my blog by tomorrow evening.

Poster Draft No. 3

This is my third draft and I'm very happy with it. I added a few more features, the tagline along the top of the poster and the 'general audiences', website link, and 'dolby digital' logo. I also put my main image into Pixlr and edited it. I darkened the nostrils, and mainly concentrated on the left hand side of the face for it was far brighter than the other side before i edited it, and it stood out significantly. I prefer using Pixlr to Photoshop, despite photoshop being generally better software. One, its easier to use, and two I wasn't doing very advanced editing, just shading in the face and manipulating the general brightness of the photo. I am waiting on opinion of my teacher to see what else I need to to or what could be changed.

Revising Locations

Another one of the issues with our old script was actually getting to the locations, one of the locations we tried to use an old abandoned steel mill was locked by the council because it was deemed dangerous, and setting plays a huge part in film so when you are not able to use a specific setting you planned to use, it really affects the rest of the film. Even the woods became near impossible to film in due to bad weather, it was just to muddy and unsafe due to steep and slippy terrain. So this really effected the film, then we decided to re-write the plot with new locations. The new locations are far safer and easier to get to, but still great places where I can get some good shots. I would also like to base my plot around the setting, it really helped me re-write the story. I'd like to shoot quite a bit of the trailer in my own house, a big part of the film is isolation and the feeling that the protagonist is being watched, driving him into his home in fear. We have already done a bit of filming with new locations, and putting filters and effects over footage really helps set atmosphere and a level of suspense I've found. 

 - This shot pictured above is one of the newer pieces of footage, we took this at a path near my house that leads into a field by a lake. I have included this in the new storyboard for I believe there are quite a few good shots we could get out here. Also this is what I mean by adding effects and filters, it was quite a sunny day, not very intimidating. So I altered the brightness and put a filter over the footage and it has a very eerie look, especially when you see the actual footage with the backing track. Very effective.

- The shot pictured below took us nearly an hour to get, we had to go into my attic but its very cluttered and not a lot of room to move and because we couldn't see the camera screen it really was just a case of trial and error. We couldn't see where his headd was until he came down, I went up and watched the footage. Eventually we thought, go up, but move up and down so start high and gradually come lower so we definitely get your head in the shot. This is a scene I really want to re-shoot because it could be very effective, but I'd like to get more of his body in it and more of the attic.

25 Word Pitch including Youtube Video

"A teen psychological horror, featuring a constant state of paranoia and unease with an unnamed stalker who is ever watching, waiting for the right moment"

Reflection on Production so Far

Filming has been much harder than expected, there is so many things I didn't really take into account before we started filming. Finding actors, getting them together at the same time, reviewing the footage on the computer after, lighting, camera angles and general audio. So at first, personally I struggled. I was very excited at first, so when I wrote the first plot I went  into a lot of detail because I wanted to create the most impressive trailer I could. Then when it came to actually filming it I realized that it was not going to be straight forward at all, getting all the actors together at the same time, and actually getting to the location was a big problem. Then when it came to acting, the script was a bit to elaborate, when looking at the footage it just looked cheap and it generally wasn't very good. So instead of sitting around and using the poor footage I decided to re-write the plot, something that was easier to film but the final product would still be just as good. And I am confident in the plot, even filming at the minute is far more enjoyable and the scenes we are coming up with a far more creative. We are not far from getting all the footage we need, then I can start the final edit and put all the pieces together. I have some good ideas I want to include in the film and some different shots I would like to get.

Music Research + Choices

Music research + Choices:

Perhaps one of the most important factors in film, especially the horror genre. Music sets the tone in each scene and gives you a vague idea of what is about to happen. Some of the biggest horror films of all time have unforgettable soundtracks / audio, for example JAWS, that low resonating sound “Duh duh… Duh duh.... duh duh, duh duh, duh duh, duh duh”. Halloween, a Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, the Exorcist, all have unforgettable spine tingling soundtracks. My favourite perhaps the screeching violins in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

I would like the trailer to be quite quiet, eerie, full of tension and suspense with little speech. This is why the music is such a big deal in our film, it must set the tone for the whole trailer and set a tense setting. We have reviewed a number of tracks to use, here was the first one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ewQiU3q5jM

It is the sound of an old music box which sounds rather scary, creating that tense vibe, as if something or someone is watching. Another one I found was on a visual zoom in world on youtube, I wasn’t even looking for music at this point, I was browsing Youtube and the music was very trippy, it doesn’t really make much sense but makes you feel very uncomfortable, especially when matched with some of the footage we have, I want to use it over the murder scenes, for I put it over the the scene where I am hanging and it was very effective, by far the best scene we have. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDxE5Pi_oLM

The last piece of audio I got was personally my favourite, the low resonating sound is very effective in trying to create tension and suspense, even when the scene itself is not neccesarily scary, the music always keeps you on the edge of your seat. Here is the link:

I am not sure if I will use anymore different audio, or even the three I have. I will decide when I come to the final edit, all of these videos are copyright free.

What is Film Noir?

Film Noir was coined by french critics during the 1940s, first by Nino Frank in 1946 who noticed the trend of how dark and downbeat many American crime / detective films looked. Films such as 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'Double Indemnity' were highlighted. These films reflected real life situations that were going on and also on going tensions, they heavily contrasted with the musicals and comedies that were popular at the time. Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia are readily evident in noir, reflecting the 'chilly' Cold War period when the threat of nuclear annihilation was ever-present. The criminal, violent, misogynistic, hard-boiled, or greedy perspectives of anti-heroes in film noir were a metaphoric symptom of society's evils, with a strong undercurrent of moral conflict, purposelessness and sense of injustice. There were rarely happy or optimistic endings in noirs.

Primary moods of Noir films were melancholy, alienation, bleakness and so on. Hero's, anti-heros, detectives, good cops, bad cops, gangsters, thugs, and average Joe's were common characters. Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks), witty, razor-sharp and acerbic dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration. Amnesia suffered by the protagonist was a common plot device, as was the downfall of an innocent every man who fell victim to temptation or was framed. Revelations regarding the hero were made to explain/justify the hero's own cynical perspective on life. Noir films were always gloomy, the black and white film enhanced it, but it theatrically showed the dark side of human nature, murder, mystery, doomed love, an opressive atmosphere of menace. It could be seen as visually depressing, long dimly lit alley ways with steam rising, long shadows and detectives in trilby's and overcoats with there hands plunged in their pockets like weights.

'Scarlett Street' was a very popular and definitive noir film of the 40's, it tells the story of a mild mannered painted un-punished murder or an amoral female after she had led him to commit embezzelement, impersonated him to sell his paintings, and had also been deceitful and cruel to him. The idea of film noir could be implemented into my trailer, the whole melancholy setting and bleak outlook in the films plot would work very well for my horror film and I could take a lot of inspiration from films like 'D.O.A' and 'The Lady from Shanghai'.

Poster Draft No. 2

I've been testing out different images for my main image on my poster, so when I was editing the trailer I took a screenshot of the face of the 'Stalker' in our film, initially after the screenshot it didn't look very good so I put it into pages and altered the shadow, saturation and brightness and it ended up looking quite creepy. I'm not 100% satisfied with it yet, I'd like to try out a few more main images before I finally finish it, i feel there's something missing from it. I'm also going to put the image into pixels or photoshop where I can manipulate it more.

First Draft of my Poster

Here is the first draft of my poster for or trailer of CASSETTE I which I created in Pages. I took much inspiration from many other horror film posters and general film posters, generally many of them have the same kind of lay out as mine. I am currently in the process of taking photographs to use as my main image, also for my magazine. I will wait for some feedback off of my teacher to see what I can alter and change to make it better. My favourite [art about the poster so far is the title, I could not change the colour of the actual title font because it was an image so I had to find a way around it. What I did was mask it, get rid of the white edges so it fades into the black background. Then I changed the border and shape of the text in pages which game me a sort of, smeared blood look. Very effective. I will post my updated poster in the coming days once I have received some feed back and found a main image.

Scream 4 Poster Analysis

This is the teaser poster for Scream 4. One of the first things that stands out is the strapline situated at the top of the poster, "New Decade. New Rules" in bold red writing which stands out on the pitch black background. The red writing is there to signal blood and perhaps violence. We get a little peak into the plot with the strapline, as well as acknowledging the original 1997 film of the same name. So we know that the plot will be the return of ghostface to once again terrorize the local teenagers. Also the word "Rules" suggests that it is some sort of sick game the killer is going to play but it is different to the last time, maybe making viewers who liked the original come back and see it because there may be a twist in the plot. The bright image of ghostface heavily contrasts with the black background and grabs your attention immediately, with help from the slight shadow. Even if you're not familiar with the Scream series, the frightening mask lets you know that this is the antagonist, and also how the mask morphs into a knife at the bottom, suggesting that there will be death and the killer is wielding a knife. In the bottom right hand corner you can see the 'Dimension Films' logo, this is important for some people would be turned on or off by a production company, or they would have an idea of the kind of films that the company produce or create. The background is pitch black, which allows everything else on the poster to stand out clearly, emphasising everything else. Also it could represent the fear of the unknown, not knowing what to expect. And the mask on the black background could perhaps suggest the killer primarily stalks by night. The knife on the mask looks very clean and fresh, it has a glimmer at the bottom which implies that it hasn't been used it that it is new, relating to the series itself for it was the first film in over 8 years. The film title again, stands out heavily on the black background because of the big block bold capital letters, also the red and white colour scheme. The title itself suggests that there will be a lot of deaths and distress in the film, also the font itself is reminiscent of a knife, suggesting the antagonists weapon of choice. Also the number 4 replaces the letter 'A' stating that it is the 4th in the series, maybe making old viewers of the first film come back and watch it.

Title Font

I have been browsing different fonts for my title, the title on the film trailer and also the poster. The title font is always effective because usually you can tell the genre by the font, whether it be Sci-fi or horror.

1)

Font: YouMurderer

Site: http://www.fontspace.com/blambot/youmurderer-bb

2) 

Font: SomethingStrange

Site: http://www.fontspace.com/jonathan-s-harris/something-strange

3)

Font: VTCAllSkratchedUpOne

Site: 

http://www.fontspace.com/vigilante-typeface-corp/vtcallskratchedupone

These are the three font's that I have chosen as my final three, and the final font I have chosen is font one because I think it looks like it has been written with blood and has a very gritty, creepy look about it. Each font individually has things I like about it, for example font 1 looks like it has been splattered on the wall, make the font red and it would look like blood. Same with font two, but instead it looks like it is dripping down the wall.

Amityville Horror Poster Analysis

In order to have a successful magazine it is important to research other movie posters before I start mine, so I can get some idea and influence of what to include. Here I have chosen the 'Amityville Horror' teaser poster. Firstly look at the colours, red, grey, black and a mossy green glow about the house which suggests decay and in a way, impending doom. The title is written in sharp, piercing font in blood red which suggests blood, violence and pain. Also look at the 'Y', perhaps this implies dripping blood or maybe even a dagger. The title is god, it stands out and draws your attention, what a good title should do. The dimmed light also draws your attention to the person, which looks like a man, staggering towards the house (I say staggering by his body image, slouching and leaning) holding what looks like a gun so this suggests that there is a killer watching the house. And the tagline "Katch em & kill em" suggests some sort of supernatural being is involved also because of the way it seems to be scratched. It looks quite sharp, almost like a demonic child. Look at the two windows at the top of the house, they seem to be the only visible windows with lights on, they seem to look like yes which could suggest there is something wrong with the house itself. If you had watched the film or read the story (for it is based on a true story) you'd know that it is actually the house that is possessed and then takes hold of those who inhabit it.

The Strangers Poster Analysis

The first thing that stands out for me is the brick wall in the background, it clearly contrasts with the 3 antagonists and gives the impression that there is no escape for the people, especially seen as they are seated and the antagonists seem to be interrogating them. Also the string that is keeping them to the chair. The actors names are situated behind each of them in bright bold writing so it draws the audience attention. The strapline is situated at the top of the poster in block capital letters, written in a golden yellow colour that easily stands out against the brick wall behind. 'Because you were home.' Allows the audience a snippet of the plot, the people tied to the chair, the strapline and people in old fashioned clothes with masks. The posters itself makes me think of the word 'unknown', we're not quite sure what is going on. The antagonists are wearing masks which gives them an element of mystery but also an increased threat because you don't know who they are, and also how below the title it fades to black. Representing the unknown, not knowing what's going to happen next. Like the actors names, the title lies in the darkness directly below the two, perhaps protagonists. The glowing bold font stands out heavily from the black background and immediate catches your attention. The font seems to be glowing like a torch, representing they are stuck in the dark, not knowing whats going to happen. Looking at the three characters facing the two seated, we know that they are the antagonists and the two seated in front are the protagonists. Looking at the masks, the way the two are seated, and the rope surrounding them you can tell that there is some sort of home invasion. The way the anatagonists are standing looking down on the man and woman symbolises the shift in power, how they have no control even in there own home. The man seated seems to not want to look at them either, he has his head facing the floor and if you look all three antagonists are staring at the woman, suggesting she is perhaps the main role in the film or is the central character.

Magazine Front Cover Draft No. 1

Here is the first draft of my magazine. Instead of using an existing magazine, I decided to create my own because I believe it will give me more creative freedom. I am still un-decided on the mast head font, I like it but I'm not sure that it matches the thriller / horror genre I am going for. I am also still unsure about the incentive as-well, It is referring to the 1978 film of the same name but I don't believe many people will understand it, they will just think it's a Halloween shirt. Doing magazines last year in AS has really helped me crate my current magazine and poster, next i am going to mess around with the masthead and see if I can improve it. Also I am going to work on the main article and sell line. The most important thing I need to do is to get some photo's, especially for the main image. 

Scream Magazine Front Cover Analysis

The first thing that catches my eye, as it should, is the masthead 'SCREAM' in big bold block capitals, the bright white on the dark backdrop helps it stand out over anything else on the vibrant cover. Also the font used has a dripping effect, perhaps it is to represent dripping blood, like the masthead has been smeared on with blood. Usually the masthead font colour is red, again representing blood but this particular issue needed to make it white for it wouldn't have stood out from the background. The main image is horror icon 'Freddy Krueger' from the 1984 film 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', he is looking straight at the camera making direct address with the readers. Using this iconic character on the front cover would be good for marketing, many people know who he is, especially horror lovers and hopefully it would bring in more circulation and generate more interest. The main article font, like the masthead stands out, the messy gritty bold red text catches your eye straight away. 'ROBERT ENGLUND SPEAKS OUT' is smartly placed beneath the main article, Robert Englund is the actor who plays Freddy Krueger and by saying that he speaks out will generate interest from readers and fans for they will want to find out what he is speaking out about, it is a key marketing tool, make the reader question. Also his general look catches your eye, the burnt flesh and snarl he has on his face goes very well with the genre of the magazine and the rest of the cover. The slogan is situated above the masthead and it reads 'BLOOD, GUTS, GORE & MORE!' having it in capitals with a yellow box surrounding it helps it stand out from the rest of the colour scheme which is primarily black, white and red, the rhyming scheme used as well makes it a sort of catchy jingle that you will remember, very effective for it sticks in the readers head. Like any other magazine the sell lines are convenietly placed around the main article and main image, none of these titles are really mainstream horror films, when you compare them to the likes of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' but despite being a international magazine it is not widely sold and is mainly sold in the US. Nevertheless it would still appeal to horror fans. The specific words use also are enticing to readers, 'BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW' cleverly picked to appeal to readers, even the font looks scratched and worn. The general colour scheme is dark at gritty, primarily consisting of black, white and red. The odd bit of yellow font or yellow backing helps articles stand out from the clustered look. There are so many things to look at that catch your eye on this cover, perhaps that represents the horror genre, everything jumping out at you, messy like the victims in a horror film. The red clearly representing blood and black is commonly associated with dark things, the evil side of life, the unknown.

Empire Magazine Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of Empire Magazine. Oddly enough, it isn't the masthead that I notice first it is the main article that reads 'INCEPTION' and placed above it the directors name, Christopher Nolan. This is perfect bait for readers for Inception was a box office hit getting nominated for multiple academy awards, and also the director Christopher Nolan is a critically acclaimed director. So this would entice readers, making them want to read this issue. The words used on the sub heading are wisely picked, they entice the reader. 'THE MATRIX MEETS 007 "ON STEROIDS!". The Matrix and 007 (James Bond) are both huge franchises that both received much critical acclaim, so saying that this film is better than the both would one, make the reader want to watch the film, and two read about it in this issue. "Steroids" is very effective for steroids makes you bigger and stronger, giving the impression that this film dwarves James Bond and the Matrix which is some feat. Behind the main article is the main image or the films protagonist played by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. He is not making direct dress with the audience, but instead looking away. His character looks calm and reserved, but at the same time an underlying menace. This gives the reader an insight into the film, one simple photo can reveal a lot about a characters nature and this certainly does. Also notice he is holding a gun in his right hand, this also lets the reader know before even knowing anything about the film there will be violence and perhaps death, add that with the suit and the determined look on his face it gives you the impression he is out for revenge or has an important job to do that involves killing someone. The EMPIRE masthead is in the same place as always, top and centre, big red block capitals. And despite being situated a little behind the main image it still stands out and grabs your attention.The main image covers the masthead and this is somewhat uncommon in magazines, but not in issues of empire, most of the time the main image partially covers the masthead and this is because with empire the main article and image dictates the whole front cover. Yes there is sell lines and cover lines placed around, but generally the whole front cover is based around the main article. For example look at the cover lines, 'TOY STORY 3' BATMAN 3', 'JONAH HEX' all of them seem to be going into the centre of the magazine, and the disorientated background with all of the buildings is visually appealing. And this is based off the film Inception. The basic idea is Inception is going into someones dream, multiple reality and universes so he cover is giving off the idea that it is in a way, 'going in'.

Filming Log #3

Here are a couple of shots from filming:

(Note: they are blurry because they are screenshots, also the filming was supposed to be dark)

Total Film Front Cover Analysis

The first thing I notice when looking at the cover is the main article, in bold block capitals "THE ACTION ISSUE" this shows this particular issue will be based on action films where-as usually Total Film focuses on a wide range of films. This can be good and bad in two ways for marketing, one it could bring in a lot of circulation for action film fans but also people who are not interested in action films may turn away from this issue. The font used looks worn and gritty, reminiscent of an action film. Also 'ACTION' is in yellow making it stand out, enticing the reader. The main image shows actor 'Dwayne Johnson' in his role as the protagonist in San Andreas, a big budget Hollywood action film that was released at the time of this issue. Notice he is making direct address with the audience. He is well known for his acting career and also his role as 'The Rock' in WWE so he is a widely known figure bringing in readers. He's a good actor to have on the cover of a strictly 'Action' issue, for he's well known for his action roles and also his physique. Tall and muscular. But also look at the background, it shows a city which seems to be in ruins, and by putting Dwayne in front of that makes it seem as if he has conquered it and looks rather unscathed, telling us a lot about his character and also the film itself.  The masthead 'TOTAL FILM' is situated top and center like in every other issue, though sometimes the layout of it changes with 'TOTAL' not inside 'FILM'. The bold red block capital writing grabs the readers attention, even with the vibrant and clustered cover. Above that is the sell line, "THE FAST AND FURIOUS: UNDER THE HOOD" The Fast and Furious is a huge international film franchise with over 7 films. 'Under the Hood' is effective for people will want to know what goes on behind the scenes, also this is after the late Paul Walker died so fans and more dedicated fans would want to read up and see what it included about him. And it would also bring in a large fan base (Fast and Furious) to this issue. The cover line "FIRST LOOK, FANTASTIC 4, THE ORIGINAL MARVEL HERO'S" written in yellow and white font is also an important article that will help sell this issue, the Fantastic 4 is a huge superhero franchise from Marvel and the first 2004 film bombed at the box office so the newest film was eagerly awaited. And by saying 'First Look' will bring in readers because this is the first place they will be able to read about it. Specific words and phrases like that are important for you need to entice the reader and grab their attention to sell your product. The main colour scheme is yellow, red and white and this is only because these color's stand out well from the rest of the cover. Like Empire there is not necessarily a set colour scheme, the cover itself is usually based around the main article, in this case, 'San Andreas'. Along the bottom of the cover are sub-images and cover lines, showing "21 EXPLOSIVE ACTION FILMS" as this is an action issue, and the films featured are huge blockbusters like 'Spectre' and 'Mad Max: Fury Road', bringing in fans of those films and also action films in general, after all there are 21 more. This is effective marketing, saying there is '21' more, as if you're getting value for money and also the words picked, 'EXPLOSIVE' an action word, it jumps out at you and grabs your attention. Making the reader want to find out what these explosive films are.

Filming Log #2

New Revised Plot (Cassette I)

Age Rating: 15
Cassette I:
Cassette tells the story of a young man who stumbles across a series of cassettes in his attic. No-one knows where they are from so he runs them through the TV and watches them. Upon watching them he realises he hold a series of snuff videos and brutal murders on film. In the days following he feels an overpowering presence of someone watching him, slowly driving him mad. I want to make the trailer different to other trailers, by breaking the usual conventions and methods, I would like it to be quite psychologically challenging with little speech and sound because I believe this will set quite a tense atmosphere for the trailer and the viewers.

P I) Jake sitting in his room, hears knocking in his loft, goes up to have a look. Stumbles upon an old box of cassettes and an old camera and decides to watch them, upon viewing he finds out that the footage is of numerous unsolved murders but the killer is barely seen in each video.

P II) Scarred from the footage he hides them in his room and goes for a walk, as he does he feels an overpowering feeling and sense that he is being watched. He decides to go home and go to bed, before he does he shuts his curtain and notices a figure standing down the street looking straight at him. Slightly shocked he closes the curtains and goes to bed.

P III) Waking up the next day he goes downstairs to find a letter addressed to him with his bank card and a note inside, the note written in scrawly handwriting reading “You’re not safe, I can see you”. Scared and worried he does not tell anyone. Looking at another one of the videos he travels to the site where it occurred, the killer can be seen in multiple shots in the background watching, he see’s the murder weapons with the blood still wet.

P IV) He goes to call the police when his phone rings, and all that can be heard is series of grunts and groans. He sees a figure standing at the path nearby watching him and decides to walk the long way home, walking through a field near his house he hears a loud low groan, turns around the killer is standing there, with a weapon in hand.

Why we are re-doing parts of the film and the plot

Upon reviewing our old plot we had a-lot of trouble actually filming it with location issues and also the plot itself was rather optimistic and to in depth for a small independent school trailer. Also another problem was finding actors, during the week it got dark very early which made it hard to film and it was even harder to find actors at the weekend due to people having weekend jobs so we revised the plot, which I also believe will make a better final product.
This means there is various things we will have to go over again like the shooting script and plot, but I will keep the old ones on my blog to show how the film trailer has changed and evolved into the final product. So things like the production schedule and risk assesment will have to be re-done, I will not delete the old ones because it shows proof of our original planning but also we did use the schedules and risk assessment, it's just we've now changed the plot which will alter where we film and how we do it. But posts like the mood-board and target audience would still be the same for we are altering the plot, the general feel and mood is still the same.